Apella Capital LLC Grows Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Apella Capital LLC increased its Valero Energy stake by 199.2% in the first quarter, ending with 6,301 shares valued at about $1.56 million.
• Valero reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $4.22 EPS versus the $3.16 consensus, alongside revenue of $32.38 billion and 7% year-over-year sales growth.
• The company remains shareholder-friendly, paying a $1.20 quarterly dividend and offering a 1.9% yield, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $245.59.

Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 199.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,301 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,195 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 10,634 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $954,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 359.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,319,000 after buying an additional 11,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $3,249,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.6%

Valero Energy stock opened at $259.05 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $246.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $130.78 and a twelve month high of $265.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.59.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company's operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.

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